The Nimitz

The Nimitz.

In the 80's, my grandmother, in her gloves and dark glasses tooled around the county in a silver Lincoln Town Car. Her hands at 10 and 2. Cruise control set at 57*. Over the speed limit, but not so much that, 'the cops will get me'.

It was an enormous car.

Over 18 feet long.

It was beautiful. Leather for miles, wood interior accents, power everything, seatbelts for six but room for 12.

We referred to it as The Nimitz. As in the aircraft carrier.

I would say, that as a family, we love cars. Grandma went on to drive a Continental, (which became mine in the late 90's in what can easily be called the worst car deal I've ever been involved in) and then a Cadillac, which she liked but was embarrassed about having.  Even though I considered her to be very fancy, that car was too fancy from her perspective.

My love of cars started young. I love cars. I read about cars. I plan for future cars. I appreciate current cars. And, I always name them. Always.

I've driven some type of SUV since 1999. The SUV got larger as the kids came and grew. I felt settled on my last SUV. The largest model Infiniti. Named, Suzie-Q.

As we blended families and two kids became four, Suzie-Q still worked. We had to use the roof rack and we had to leave the dogs at home but the six of us could travel around.

Until the summer of 2018.

As we drove home from Wallowa Lake, I looked in the mirror. The boys looked to be in physical pain, the girls were twisted with their feet resting on their bags, knees up to their chests.

Shit.

I only had 14 payments left.

I was already planning on my next car. Oh, I'd have to keep Suzie-Q until the kids were out of the house. But, with her paid off, I would be free to buy something fun. Something for me. Something more convertible-like. Something that doesn't scream 'mom car' but rather, 'fantastical mid-life crisis car'.

A couple months later Costco had a special. With a big family we buy pretty much everything there. Might as well buy a car there too. An enormous one. A silver Denali XL. A Denali, well, because, I'm admittedly, a snob. An XL, well... because the requirement is for something enormous.

Over 18 feet** long.

It's beautiful. Leather for miles, wood interior accents, power everything, seatbelts for seven but room for 12.

I didn't really bond with her. She was a requirement. She checked boxes. The main one being: bigger. I tried to name her for over a year. Tried a bunch of names. Nothing stuck.

The Nimitz.

This morning, chatting at work, an office mate said, "Man, your car is huge."

"I know, it does fit four teenagers and a St. Bernard perfectly though. But, yeah, it's a land yacht."

Then, a whisper in my ear, "It's like The Nimitz."

And, just like that, she has a name.

*My hands are never at 10 and 2. I drive one handed at like 7. I rarely use cruise control but if I do, it's nowhere near 57.
**For the record, the Denali is 6 inches longer than the Town Car but weighs an astonishing 1600 more pounds.